1. Field
The present application generally relates to analyzing body movement kinematics of a person, and in particular analyzing the use of limbs to provide feedback for sensorimotor rehabilitation.
2. Description of the Related Art
Stroke is a leading cause of severe long-term disability. Stroke and other causes of central nervous system damage (e.g., spinal cord injury, traumatic brain injury, brain infections, cerebral palsy, demyelinating diseases, meningitis, brain tumors, and congenital brain malformations) can result in a debilitating loss of motor control that is often more pronounced in one limb than the other. As a result of this motor function imbalance, patients tend to stop using their affected (e.g., impaired or relatively more affected/impaired) limb and instead favor the unaffected (e.g., unimpaired or relatively less affected/impaired) limb. Such favored use of a particular limb creates a phenomenon that is referred to as learned non-use where patients can continue to favor their unaffected limb and rehabilitation of the affected limb is compromised. Using or attempting to use the affected limb during activities of daily living, despite considerable difficulty, stimulates neuroplasticity and motor function recovery.
A rehabilitative therapy called Constraint Induced Movement Therapy (CIMT) has been shown to prevent and/or reverse learned non-use following stroke, as discussed in Taub, E. and D. M. Morris, Constraint-induced movement therapy to enhance recovery after stroke, Curr Atheroscler Rep, 2001, 3(4): p. 279-86, which is incorporated by reference and made a part of this specification. CIMT has also been more recently explored as a treatment for children with Cerebral Palsy in cases where one limb exhibits less motor impairment than the other, as discussed in Huang, H. H., et al., Bound for success: a systematic review of constraint-induced movement therapy in children with cerebral palsy supports improved arm and hand use, Phys Ther, 2009, 89(11): p. 1126-41, which is incorporated by reference and made a part of this specification. CIMT involves constraining the unaffected limb thereby forcing the patient to use their affected limb. Forced use of the affected limb stimulates neuroplasticity and has been shown to significantly improve motor function of the affected limb, as discussed in Wolf, S. L., et al., Effect of constraint-induced movement therapy on upper extremity function 3 to 9 months after stroke: the EXCITE randomized clinical trial, JAMA, 2006, 296(17): p. 2095-104, which is incorporated by reference and made a part of this specification. A conventional 2-week bout of CIMT consists of constraining the upper limb for up to 90% of waking hours and participating in one-on-one therapy for up to 6 hours per day, 5 days per week.